Close Encounters Of The Apple Kind
by Bandicoot Sauce
Summary: Equestria Girls universe. Late one night, Applejack has a very... out-of-this-world experience, leaving her deeply shaken. Can Twilight and the other girls help AJ get to the bottom of what really happened that night? Rated T for disturbing themes and implied shipping.


**Close Encounters Of The Apple Kind**

Chapter 1

The rickety old ute clanked and rattled its way along the winding road through the countryside, its peeling red paint, lopsided rear-view mirrors and partially cracked headlamps making it stick out like a sore thumb even in the dark of night. It was a real lemon of a transport, which was ironic, given that it was typically used to transport crates filled with bottled apple cider.

Seated comfortably in the driver's seat, the fabric of which was visibly peeling in places, was a girl in her late teens, her visage orange and freckled, her luminous green eyes focused vigilantly on the road ahead, both of her hands on the steering wheel. Despite concentrating fully on her driving, the young woman clad in a short-sleeved white and green top, a blue skirt and brown cowgirl boots decorated with images of her namesake was also very contented at present.

The comforting familiarity of her family's rustic yet beloved ute made Applejack as relaxed as she was focused, her head bopping slightly in time with the country banjo music emanating from the truck's outdated sound system courtesy of the cassette tape that was currently playing, a strand of wheatgrass poking out from between the girl's teeth in very stereotypical Southerner fashion. There was just something about the nostalgic, slightly musty smell of the ute's interior coupled with the cheery tunes uninterrupted by any lyrics that made her feel right at home behind the wheel. She felt as though she could just drive along forever… if not for the fact that she would have to stop eventually due to needing fuel, food, sleep, the bathroom or all of the above.

Applejack glanced at her beloved cowgirl hat, which rested on the passenger seat beside her. She had removed it to ensure it would not obstruct her driving in any way, and yet, she felt naked without it sitting atop her flowing blonde hair. She always had. It might've had something to do with the fact that the hat was a hand-me-down from her late parents; wearing it was like carrying a part of them with her, keeping them close to her heart. Applejack smiled somewhat sadly at the hat, feeling sentimental. She returned her gaze to the road ahead, but her eyes kept wandering back to the quaint piece of headwear.

"Aw, tuh heck with it all," the teenager said at last, removing her right hand from the steering wheel, snatching the hat up and placing it atop her head. Its weight was instantly reassuring, the brim visible above her eyes, seeming almost like a silent guardian angel keeping watch over her. Applejack smiled, returned her right hand to the steering wheel, starting to drum her fingers in time with the cassette tape's music. She soon found herself humming along with the happy tune, feeling very jovial as she pressed onward down the country road.

That feeling wouldn't last for long.

The banjo music suddenly cut out, replaced by obnoxiously loud static and a high-pitched whirring sound. Applejack cringed at the ear-scraping noise and slowed her vehicle to a stop on the side of the road, soon ejecting the cassette in time to see the black film spew out of the bottom in a tangled mess.

"Darn thing's busted," Applejack summarised in a bitter murmur, "An' right in the middle o' my favourite song, too." She sighed, sitting back in her seat and closing her eyes for a moment. She then jumped at the sound of a sudden loud bang, her eyes jerking open wide. "What in the hay was that?!" she exclaimed, alarmed. Then, she smelled smoke, her alarm only increasing in response to the scent. She unbuckled her seatbelt, turned off the motor, leapt out of the ute, raced around to the front of the vehicle and hurled the bonnet open. She was met with a face full of smoke that made her cough and splutter. She stumbled back slightly, waving her arms to try and fan the smoke away. Once she had recomposed herself, AJ stepped up to examine the motor, immediately seeing just what the problem was:

The radiator cap had burst open, smoke emanating from within the metallic box. The cap itself lay face-up atop the car battery, visibly charred, as though it had been caught in an explosion. Applejack picked up the cap, only to immediately drop it with a gasp; the thing was red hot.

"Gadzooks!" she murmured. "What in tarnation brought this on? Ah thought me an' Big Mac checked all the fluid levels before Ah left this mornin', so what could've…?"

A rusting sound occurred somewhere to Applejack's right and she whipped her head around, staring intently into the veritable forest of trees that lined the side of the road. The girl's wary green eyes surveyed the scenery carefully, but nothing moved. Nothing made a sound.

And yet, the teenager felt a great sense of unease, as though something wasn't right. All of a sudden, she felt as though she were being watched, and just couldn't shake that feeling.

"Well, Ah… Ah ain't goin' nowhere anytime soon," Applejack mused quietly as she turned her gaze back to the still smoking vehicle. "Probably gonna have tuh call in a tow truck or somethin'," she went on as she fished her mobile phone out of her pocket. "Better call Twi or one o' the girls first, see if they can come an' pick me up."

As soon as Applejack brought up the number pad on her phone's screen, the device sparked dangerously and with a loud crackling sound, the screen burst, causing AJ to drop the phone in shock. She stared at it from its position on the ground, the ute's headlamps revealing it to have a cracked, smoking screen with no power.

"What in the hay…?!" Applejack exclaimed, completely bewildered. "Why is every other machine goin' snap, crackle an' pop all o' a sudden?!"

Right on cue, the lights of the ute - both those mounted on the front and those inside the cabin - fizzled out, bathing AJ in darkness. She hurried back to the ute's cabin and tried to start the motor.

Nothing.

Not a single rev.

The truck was completely dead.

Applejack's sheer bewilderment at her predicament quickly turned to fear as the gravity of the situation dawned upon her. She was stranded in the middle of nowhere with no light source, no provisions and no way to contact help. She swallowed fearfully, reaching up instinctively to straighten her hat, now finding precious little comfort in its weight atop her head.

"Ah guess Ah'll just have tuh make the best o' it," she said in a decidedly hushed voice as she clambered back into the driver's seat and pulled the door shut. She sat there in silence for a moment, and then, she pushed in the button to lock her door before reaching across to lock the adjacent door. She still felt as though she were being watched, and she found herself afraid to turn her head look out the window. The higher part of her brain told her that she was being irrational, but once again, she just couldn't shake the feeling…

Biting her lip (and tasting apple flavoured lip balm as she did so), Applejack pulled her hat down over her eyes, leaning back in her seat once more. Scared as she felt, she wasn't about to let it get to her. No, the best thing she could do right now was to try and get some sleep. At sunrise, she'd go walking to find help, perhaps flag down a passing car or something. It was possible that she wasn't far from somebody's house or a gas station. Her phone may have bitten the dust, but her wallet was still very much intact and close at hand. Yes, she'd likely find that she was but a few kilometres from one of those dine-in truck stops, and she'd go there tomorrow, use a pay phone to call a tow truck and a ride home, and then she'd go have breakfast in the diner. AJ smiled at the thought of a stack of pancakes made lovingly by some gruff yet sweet old truck stop gal. Pancakes with whipped cream and maple syrup… and maybe some apple slices just for good measure…

_THUD._

Applejack jerked awake, having no idea how long she had slept, or even if she had slept at all. All she knew was that something had rocked the ute just now, as if a wild animal had rammed it. A moose, perhaps? AJ wasn't eager to try and deal with a grumpy elk in the middle of the night, especially not without Fluttershy and her natural talent with animals standing by to help.

"Wh-Who's there?" the farm girl demanded aloud shakily.

There was silence, and then—

"WHOOOOAAAAA! WHAT IN TARNATION?!" Applejack screamed as the ute started to rock back and forth violently, as though it were trying to toss its lone passenger out, and a moment later, it did just that, the door on AJ's side unlocking and swinging open of its own accord, the vehicle teetering dangerously on its left wheels, only slamming back down onto all fours with a terrifying crash once AJ was deposited onto the dirt. The door then slammed shut. AJ sat there in bewildered shock for a moment, and then she leapt up and started pulling at the door of the now docile truck. It wouldn't budge; it was locked from the inside.

_And the keys were still in the ignition._

Applejack grimaced. What had just happened?! The ute that had served the Apple family for years had suddenly cast her out as though it were rebelling, as though it were alive! And yet, even as AJ continued to try and wrench the door open, the ute remained silent and motionless, almost as though it had become indifferent, as though it knew that its owner wasn't getting back inside of it anytime soon. Applejack stared at the vehicle, taking a cautious step back. Then her eyes narrowed.

"Alright, very funny, whoever y'are!" she shouted into the darkness. "Show yerself! Ah ain't gonna be pushed around by some creep who thinks they're funny! It'll take more than a lil' turbulence tuh scare m—!"

Applejack cut herself off as a bright blue glow was suddenly reflected in the darkened window of her truck. She turned around slowly, daring to glance at the source of the light…

…And immediately wished she hadn't.

A tall figure was slowly, almost erratically emerging from the trees, slender and only vaguely humanoid. Its lanky arms were skinny, almost skeletal. It didn't appear to be wearing any sort of clothing. It approached AJ, who was far beyond terror-stricken, with its head down. It stopped before her, and only then did it lift its head to reveal its face.

What Applejack saw made her scream as she had never screamed before.

AJ's scream echoed across the countryside before it was very suddenly, very abruptly cut off. In an instant, the blue light was gone, the tall figure vanishing with it.

The ute remained where it was parked.

AJ's hat lay on the ground next to it.

But AJ herself… was _gone._


End file.
